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Positively Safe: Addressing the Intersection of Domestic Violence & HIV/AIDS

NNEDV Training for Domestic Violence & HIV/AIDS Service Providers

Developed in 2010, the Positively Safe project addresses the intersection of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. Together with the National Domestic Violence & HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee, NNEDV developed a curriculum to train service provider in both fields. The curriculum has a large focus on building collaboration to address the intersection and prevent HIV and domestic violence.

NNEDV’s Positively Safe project, in partnership with the Gilead Foundation, proposes to systematically address the unique challenges and barriers facing victims and survivors of domestic violence living with HIV/AIDS by:

  • Partnering and collaborating with national, state and local HIV/AIDS and domestic violence organizations to explore the intersection of domestic violence and HIV/AIDS;
  • Providing technical assistance & training opportunities to both domestic violence and HIV/AIDS service providers to share best practices, lessons learned, and model programs that address HIV/AIDS and domestic violence; and
  • Developing and disseminating critical resources to both fields on the co-occurrence of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, including strategies to best address challenges and barriers when both are present in the lives of women.

Since its inception, NNEDV has trained 27 of the 56 state and territories on the intersection at two national training-of-trainers. NNEDV and the Advisory Committee have also had the privilege of presenting our work at a number of international, national, and state conferences.

If you’re interested in receiving training on the intersection of domestic violence and HIV, please email us.

NNEDV’s Resources & Partnerships

In 2013, NNEDV was able to present our curriculum to the President’s Working Group on the Intersection of HIV/AIDS, Violence against Women and Girls, and Gender-Related Health Disparities. Because of NNEDVs on-going commitment to these issues, we were funded to provide trainings to select groups on the intersection.

NNEDV developed a toolkit that can be used by the domestic violence field, the HIV/AIDS field, social workers, survivors, medical practitioners, and others. Tools in the kit include: Screening for Domestic Violence, Screening for HIV/AIDS Risk, fact sheets, Building a Successful Partnership, Confidentiality Considerations, and much more. See the full toolkit for all of the tools!

What You Should Know about HIV/AIDS and Domestic Violence

  • Evidence suggests that sexual and other forms of abuse against women and girls – whether at the hands of intimate partners or strangers – increases their chances of acquiring HIV.
  • One quarter to one half of abused women have experienced forced sex.
  • Women who were beaten or dominated by their partners were more likely to acquire HIV than women in non-violent relationships. These women who were beaten by their boyfriends or husbands were 48% more likely to acquire HIV.
  • 24% of the female patients in one study experienced physical abuse after disclosing their HIV status and 45% feared such a reaction.
  • Women who have a history of both sexual and physical abuse by intimate partners are 2.7 times more likely to worry about acquiring HIV.